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The future after school is frightening for the majority of people. The fact that you don’t know how hard life’s going to hit you makes it even more stressful, thus forcing students to make a choice: Work hard or be a slacker and hope for the best. The community in TCS holds many of these individuals who decide to push for more, so in a near future, their entry to a good college will be a lot easier. The question is, is it all worth it? Being a so-called “overachiever” has its obvious benefits, like giving you tools necessary for the future, preparing you for the many dares of college, and most importantly improving your résumé. The problem is, this lifestyle requires a lot of effort and hard work that a great part of students are simply not willing to give. Those who are willing to give the extra mile enjoy all the perks available when embarking on this lifestyle.

Why?“For some students it’s really clear, and they know that if they work hard during their high school years, they are going to have a lot of benefits, because even though grades are not the only important thing, they are key to apply to universities and career paths you want to follow after school,” Maria Teresa Mejia, TCS counselor, said. TCS students start their high school journey with a common goal, it is having good grades to apply to a good, competitive college. We focus on grades, community service, extracurricular activities, and every other thing that can help us have an advantage over our peers since nowadays we have to have one if we desire to be part of the industrial world. This race of overachievers plays a major role in the Columbus School community because although there are many slackers who overshadow the good students, this group of hard workers does its utmost to show who they are. “I do consider myself an overachiever, and in my opinion, it’s our [students as a whole] responsibility as privileged citizens of a country with so much discrimination and social inequality to take action and become “overachievers” to achieve better goals and a better quality of life for both us and everyone around us,” Salome Beyer, 9th grade TCS student, said.

A polar oppositeOn the other hand, a great deal of TCS students has a different point of view regarding this topic, arguing that being an overachiever is not necessary for a person to be successful and that there are many more things that come into play when thinking about your future. Backing up on examples of people who didn’t get exemplary grades in school but later had an amazing college life and today are amazing professionals is commonly seen among those who argue against this lifestyle and also stating that it is somewhat harmful to you in various ways. “In my opinion, being an overachiever in school is not necessary, now that this period in life should be aimed to establish relationships and develop skills to “survive” in the future. Those who work hard in school are very devoted people, and nobody is going to deny it, but they are also stressed out most of their day and have no time to really pursue their dreams because of school and extracurricular responsibilities. I’m friends with many of these people and I’m certain that they do this because they are competitive and need that sort of recognition, good for them, but life is not only about grades and school,” Jose Uribe, 11th grade Junior, said. Mixed opinions surround the TCS campus, but at the end of the day, every individual has the right to choose which lifestyle suits him/she the most. TCS counselor and previously quoted Maria Teresa Mejia gives her take on the subject, clearly favoring those hard workers that aim for higher goals and thus, according to her, have an advantage over the common TCS student.

Bottom Line“When you want something for your life, and work hard to get it, you are surely going to receive a lot of credit and be better prepared in general… Doing all of those things that get you more prepared than others [extracurricular activities, school, etc] will be extremely beneficial for your academic life and future outside the school. Sometimes those kinds of work or helping people in other ways allows students to realize what they want to do in their future,” Mejia, stated. All in all, is being an overachiever worth it? This is an impossible question to answer, due to the fact that people have different goals in life, and maybe working hard in school is worth it for some, but for others, it might be a complete waste of time. Everyone views the world in different ways, depending on what they are aiming for and how hard the path to that specific goal is going to be. “I’ve seen the results of being an overachiever, and not just mine, but those of others who also decide that slacking is not an option. Currently, I’m the founder of Girl Up in Medellin, I participate in every single MUN model, and try to do my absolute best in school. These are examples of how I strive for more and work hard to be a better version of myself. Do I think being an overachiever is worth it? No doubt about it, and I’m proud to be one,” Salome Beyer, said.